The present disclosure relates to a chip electronic component and a manufacturing method thereof.
An inductor, a chip electronic component, is a representative passive element configuring an electronic circuit together with a resistor and a capacitor to remove noise. The inductor is combined with the capacitor using an electromagnetic property to configure a resonance circuit amplifying a signal in a specific frequency band, a filter circuit, or the like.
Recently, as miniaturization and thinness of information technology (IT) devices such as various communications devices, display devices, or the like, has been accelerated, research into a technology for miniaturizing and thinning various elements such as inductors, capacitors, transistors, and the like, used in the IT devices has continued. Inductors have also been rapidly replaced by chips having a small size and a high density and capable of being automatically surface-mounted. Thin film-type inductors in which mixtures of magnetic powder particles and resins are formed on coil patterns formed by plating on upper and lower surfaces of thin film insulating substrates have been developed.
Direct current resistance Rdc, a main characteristic of an inductor, is decreased as a cross-sectional area of a coil is increased. Therefore, in order to decrease direct current resistance Rdc and increase an inductance value, a cross-sectional area of an internal coil needs to be increased.
Two methods are commonly used for increasing a cross sectional area of a coil pattern, namely, a method of increasing a width thereof and a method of increasing a thickness thereof.
In the case of increasing a width of the coil pattern, the occurrence of short circuits between coil patterns may be significantly increased, and the amount of turns able to be implemented in an inductor chip may be decreased, leading to a decrease in an area occupied by a magnetic material, such that inductor efficiency may be deteriorated and a limitation in implementing high capacity products.
Therefore, a structure in which the internal coil of the thin film inductor has a high aspect ratio (AR) by a coil pattern thickness being increased has been required. The aspect ratio (AR) of the internal coil indicates a value obtained by dividing the thickness of the coil pattern by the width of the coil pattern, and in order to implement a relatively high aspect ratio (AR), an increase in a width of a coil pattern should be suppressed, and an increase in a thickness of a coil pattern should be promoted.
However, in the case in which internal coils are formed by an existing pattern plating method using a plating resist, in order to increase a coil pattern thickness, a plating resist thickness should be increased and the plating resist having an increased thickness should have a predetermined width or more to maintain a shape thereof, thereby causing a problem such as an increase in an interval between coil patterns.
In addition, when internal coils are formed using an electroplating process according to the related art, due to isotropic growth of a coil pattern in which the coil pattern is grown in width and thickness directions, short circuits between coil patterns may occur, and a limitation in implementing a relatively high aspect ratio (AR) of a coil may be present.